Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Lumbini


Lumbini is a Buddhist pilgrimage site in the Rupandehi district of Nepal. It is the place where Queen Mayadevi gave birth to Siddhartha Gautama, who as the Buddha Gautama founded the Buddhist tradition. The Buddha lived between roughly 563and 483 BCE. Lumbini is one of four mangnets for pilgrimage that sprang up in places pivotal to the life of the Buddha, the others being at Kushinagar, Bodh Gaya,  and Sarnath.
Lumbini is in the foothills of the Himalaya, 25 km east of the municipality of Kapilvastu, where the Buddha is said to have lived till the age of 29. Kapilvastu is the name of the place in question as well as of the neighbouring district. Lumbini has a number of temples, including the Mayadevi temple, and others under construction. Also here is the Puskarini or Holy Pond – where the Buddha’s mother took the ritual dip prior to his birth and where he, too, had his first bath – as well as the remains of Kapilvastu palace. At other sitesnear Lumbini, earlier Buddhas were, according to tradition, Born, achieved ultimate awakening and finally relinquished earthly form.

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